I am in the 'put back together' stage of my rebuild and I would like to put the original 79 coil springs (SBC) back in until I get some after market springs or coil overs to lower the car. I want to lower the car a little and although it is a pretty rough way to do it I am considering cutting the coils. They may be in there for a little while so I have some questions I hope forum members may be able to answer:

How much do you cut front the springs?

Will the spring still seat in the mounts as it is supposed to?

Is there a top and bottom to the spring?

Thanks in anticipation for your help!

 

I used a hack saw and cut off 1 coil, it seated just the same as before and lowered the car about 1 1/2".

 

 

Rookie advice: The springs may be progressively wound--meaning the coils on one end of the spring will be closer together than the coils on the other end.Wrap a piece of tape around the 3rd coil from the bottom......this will remind you that the end with the tape goes DOWN when you re-install them. (On standard coil springs all the coils will look equally space)


MEASURE FROM THE FENDER LIP ABOVE THE TIRE TO THE DRIVEWAY AND WRITE THE MEASUREMENT DOWN FOR EACH FRONT WHEEL AS REFERENCE POINTS. (If the car is disassembled, you will have to judge from memory or previous pictures)

Whichever end you cut a coil off, make sure you put a mark on the next coil directly under the end of the original coil so the modified spring will be cut at that mark so it will sit in the control arm pockets correctly. Make sure you cut the other coil spring the same way!

If you have progressively wound coil springs, I am not sure if the tightly wound coils go to the top or to the bottom---other members can answer that question.

Before cutting a coil off decide if you want a much firmer ride....cut one coil off the end with the LARGER spacing for a firmer ride/for a more original ride cut one coil off the end that is more CLOSELY wound.

TO FIND HOW MUCH DROP THE MODIFIED SPRINGS HAVE GIVEN THE CAR, THE SPRINGS MUST BE REINSTALLED AND THE CAR MUST BE DRIVEN FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES OVER DIFFERENT ROADS TO MAKE THE SPRINGS/SUSPENSION SETTLE INTO PLACE!

REMEMBER......If you feel that you need to cut ANOTHER COIL off each coil spring THE DROP WILL INCREASE MUCH MORE!



I did not want a stiff ride so I cut the first coil off the tightly wound end........





After reinstalling the springs and driving the car there was a 3/4" drop/I wanted more so I cut another coil off the tightly wound ends---reinstalled the springs and drove the car---there was an ADDITIONAL 1 & 1/4" DROP which gave a total of 2 inches.




Before cutting springs.........







After cutting springs two times...........

 

I did this on my 66, same basic frame and suspension c3 it sat a bit high for my taste, it dropped it the same about 1.5" the look was great...but I did cut mine with a grinder...

 

Tires DO make a difference in how much the wheel well is filled in.....I have 225 70 15 on the front and 60 Series tires with 1" smaller diameter on the rear..... I used a 6" cutoff wheel mounted on a sidegrinder to cut my coil springs.....................




(60 Series tires make the car appear to be sitting higher than it really is....as can be seen on the rear wheel wells with standard spring bolts installed. A few weeks later I had to install 1 & 1/2" longer spring bolts to bring the rear down)

 

Even VB&P told me cutting coils was an acceptable procedure for lowering the front. I have heard some negative comments on this method, but not sure how else to lower a coil spring car. Short of some high dollar a arms.
Regardless, VB&P recommended cutting the wider spaced coils. A buddy told me to cut 1/3 of a coil at a time, that way u can creep up on the desired height. It took me a 1/2 hr to remove cut both springs and reinstall 1 time. It's not hard, but everything is new on mine so comes apart easily. I'm at 2/3 of a coil and once the car is completely finished I'll make the final adjustment.

 

Thanks for your comments folks. I cut a full coil from the springs. Now to get the motor and transmission into the frame so that I have a bit of weight on the frame to help install the springs. Thanks everyone for your comments!!!

 

Yep. Grinder for me as well. Cut 1 full coil out and will see how it sits. Cheers.

 

FYI......the springs will install much easier before the engine and transmission is installed.

 

Hi Doorgunner,

Why do you say that? I would have thought that you would need the weight on the frame to be able to get the spring to compress enough with a floor jack under the bottom arm to install it? I don't think that there is enough room to use a set of spring compressors is there?